A study by the University of Bristol has revealed a worrying trend among young people who are also gambling addicts.
According to researchers, young people who were also gambling addicts in the age group 20-24 were four times more likely to attempt suicide compared to people who did not experience gambling-related harm or did not gamble at all.
Young people who are also problem gamblers need help, a seminal study says
The study takes a historic look at how gambling harm impacts young people, with Olly Bastiani leading the large-scale "Children of the 90s" study in which the test subjects were tracked since birth, and as such, they presented a unique data set to look into and get actionable data on how gambling may impact individuals’ health and prospects in life.
The survey took into consideration 2,801 subjectsand followed them from birth for 24 years, with Bastiani specifying:
"This study tracked people from birth, meaning we could look at the long-term impacts of problem gambling, and could rule out alternative explanations that hinder previous studies, such as that people might be drawn to problem gambling as a way of escaping pre-existing suicidal feelings."
Bastiani believes that the findings of the survey point to one very clear thing – that gambling-related harm is still notunder control and that "more needs to be done," among which are such options as tailored approaches to uprooting gambling harm.
The researchers involved with the project stood by their findings, arguing that while the sample focused on England, it included both affluent and deprived areas, and resulted in a reasonably well-represented sample to conclude.
Interestingly, the study found little difference between men and women when it came to how they were affected.
The next generations need to be protected
Dr Philip Newall who co-authored the study also wanted it to be known that while the headline figure applied to problem gamblers, i.e. those specific people group was four time more likely to attempt suicide, this didn’t mean that the millions of other people classified as "low" or "medium" risk gamblers were completely safe or shielded from the negative impacts of gambling-related harm.
Newall also paid particular attention to the fact that the generation his study examined was a generation during which gambling was much less available, arguing that more efforts need to be invested in protecting the next generations from gambling-related harm.
